Schalke braced for Barcelona visit

FC Barcelona's pursuit of a second UEFA Champions League crown in three seasons continues at FC Schalke 04, a club who have not travelled this far in Europe's élite club competition for almost five decades.

• Schalke's last European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final appearance was in 1958/59 and then as now, their opponents were Spanish. They will hope for better luck this time having gone down 4-1 on aggregate to Club Atlético de Madrid that season.

• The sides have never before met in UEFA club competition, although Barcelona have considerably more experience of competing at this stage of the European Cup. This is their tenth quarter-final overall and they have fared well down the years, recording seven wins and only two defeats.

• The Catalan club also advanced to the final in both 1991/92 and 1993/94, seasons when there was no quarter-final due to the changes in the competition's format.

• Schalke reached the last eight by defeating FC Porto on penalties in the first knockout round. Kevin Kuranyi's fourth-minute goal gave them a 1-0 advantage after the first leg which they held for 86 minutes of the return before Porto's Lisandro López levelled the aggregate scores. Mirko Slomka's side then emerged 4-1 winners in a penalty shoot-out where goalkeeper Manuel Neuer saved two spot-kicks.

• The Bundesliga team had previously finished second in Group B behind Chelsea FC, with a record of W2 D2 L2 – the lowest points haul (eight) of the 16 teams that advanced.

• Barcelona, by contrast, won Group E with four wins and two draws and they remain one of three sides still unbeaten in this campaign, together with Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC.

• Frank Rijkaard's team beat Celtic FC 4-2 on aggregate in the first knockout round. After trailing twice, they eventually prevailed 3-2 in the first leg in Glasgow thanks to goals from Lionel Messi (2) and Thierry Henry. Xavi Hernández struck the only goal of the return after just three minutes.

• Schalke's home record against visitors from Spain includes three wins and two draws in seven fixtures. That record is somewhat undermined, however, by the fact they have lost to Spanish opponents in Gelsenkirchen already this season, succumbing 1-0 to Valencia CF in their opening match of the group stage in September with David Villa scoring the only goal.

• By contrast Barcelona have already prevailed on German soil in 2007/08, beating VfB Stuttgart 2-0 on Matchday 2 through goals from Carles Puyol and Messi.

• Schalke have won three and lost two of their five previous two-leg contests against sides from Spain. Their most recent opponents were Sevilla FC in a 2005/06 UEFA Cup semi-final that Schalke lost 1-0 on aggregate. After a goalless draw in Gelsenkirchen, the Bundesliga team lost the return against the eventual champions to an extra-time goal from Antonio Puerta.

• The German side had had more cause for celebration when they came up against Spanish opposition in the Round of 32 of the same campaign, comfortably overcoming Barcelona's city rivals RCD Espanyol 5-1 on aggregate thanks to a 2-1 win at the Arena AufSchalke which preceded a 3-0 triumph in Spain.

• Their most famous victory against Spanish rivals came in the semi-final of their triumphant 1996/97 UEFA Cup campaign where they overturned a 1-0 first-leg loss to CD Tenerife with a 2-0 home success, Thomas Linke and Marc Wilmots getting the goals. Schalke went on to defeat FC Internazionale Milano in a penalty shoot-out after the two-legged final had finished to claim the trophy.

• Barcelona's record in two-leg knockout ties against German teams is nine wins and four losses.

• The most recent knockout tie was against BV Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Super Cup when Barcelona, then UEFA Cup Winners' Cup holders, beat the reigning European champions 2-0 at home in January 1998 before drawing 1-1 at the Westfalenstadion two months later.

• Barcelona also beat Werder Bremen 3-2 on aggregate to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time in 1992/93 and lifted the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1979 after a 4-3 final victory against another German team, TSV Fortuna Düsseldorf.

• As coach of the Netherlands, Rijkaard twice faced Germany in friendly games, winning one and drawing one. As a Dutch international, he featured against Germany five times during his playing days, winning two matches, drawing two and losing one.

• In his club career, Rijkaard struck against German opposition on his first appearance in UEFA competition, scoring in a 2-1 victory for AFC Ajax against FC Bayern München in the European Cup on 5 November 1980, although the Dutch side had lost the first leg of their second-round tie 5-1. His overall record against German sides with both Ajax and AC Milan was five wins, two draws and one defeat.

• Barcelona playmaker Deco was in the FC Porto team that won the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League at the Arena AufSchalke. The Portuguese international scored Porto's second goal in a 3-0 victory against AS Monaco FC in the final on 26 May 2004.

• Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o scored the 66th-minute winner when his former club RCD Mallorca beat Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen in the UEFA Champions League first group stage in September 2001. The following month, he was in the Mallorca team defeated 4-0 at home in the return fixture.

• Schalke forward Peter Løvenkrands found the net in both legs of former club Rangers FC's 3-3 aggregate draw with Spanish side Villarreal CF in the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League first knockout round – but his team were eliminated on goal difference.